Difficulty

George Mason commit Patrick Holloway gets the loving adoration of the Paul VI fans for the winner. In theory this is a fairly simple shot, straight away from the top of the key, and Holloway does a terrific job of squaring his body to shoot in case the ball comes to him. This comes in handy, as he has just enough time to get the shot away before the buzzer sounds.

Game Situation

Paul VI trailed 62-61 after DeMatha’s Jerami Grant missed the front end of a 1-and-1 (“Don’t feel too bad Jerami,” said Derrick Rose and LeBron James) with 25.4 seconds left, Paul VI pretty much decided to play for the win at the end, waiting until only a few seconds remained before making their move to score.

Importance

I am way out of my element here, but according to the game story this game was for first place in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, so I’m guessing relative to the teams, the stakes were pretty darn high.

Celebration

Dare I say I’ve not seen as good a celebration as this in a long time? I dare indeed. Oh, if we could only have each NBA team play a game each year in a local high school gym. There is nothing like the intensity of playing in front of a packed, tiny gym audience. I am a complete snob when it comes to rushing the court, but no doubt in my mind the Paul VI fans earned it here.

Grade

4 Horrys. I’m tempted to give it a full five, but the shot itself was fairly standard (albeit rushed) and while its a big game between top teams, there will presumably be bigger stakes once the postseason gets closer.